A/N: Okay this is a random story of linking 'one-shots' I've written for Anna's birthday (although it's a bit late) and it's based on our last year in high school. Because of this Merlin and Arthur might be a bit OOC or just not like the characters at all but I thought it would be fun to write anyway. It is based loosely on the events of our last year but it doesn't follow it completely as my memory really isn't that good and I've added and changed some bits but I've tried to include the parts I can remember or don't seem completely impossible for either character to say or do lol.
Happy (belated) birthday Anna! It would have been up earlier but Merlin was distracting me XD
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"Emrys, you're on my team"
Merlin sighed, he hated PE, especially when they played rugby, he was just too thin for it. He walked slowly over to where Arthur 'Team Captain' Pendragon stood surrounded by his friends all desperate to impress him. He glanced back at Will and Lancelot who attempted to give him encouraging smiles which just looked more like grimaces.
"Bad news class" Mr Valiant apologised walking into the changing rooms, "The field's too wet to play rugby". There was a collective groan and a couple of 'awws' as the news was delivered (apart from Merlin of course who couldn't have had better news).
"What are we going to do instead then?" Arthur demanded, looking more than slightly put out.
"Erm... A treasure hunt" Mr Valiant commented weakly, already knowing that his class was going to hate the idea. He wasn't wrong.
"WHAT?" Leon cried outraged by the idea, "Do we look like girls?"
"Well..." Valiant looked a Leon pointedly and paused while everyone laughed before continuing, "And anyway you're in groups already and all of the things are set up so you'll just have to do it whether you like it or not Leon". Leon scowled at his feet but remained silent.
After half an hour of following ambiguous clues leading to varying forms of 'treasure' (including two Barbie dolls and a poorly hidden garden gnome), which Merlin had somehow managed to get through without falling over or making a complete fool out of himself, he finally ran in to the other group and began talking with Lance and Will who were unsuccessfully searching for one of said treasures.
"Merlin! MERLIN!" Arthur yelled to him across the field
"Go on Merlin, your master's calling" Will mocked him. Merlin scowled but walked over to where Arthur stood as Lance waved and laughed.
"Are you going Lancelot's party on Saturday then?" Arthur quizzed him as they headed back to the building. Arthur was, like Merlin, one of Lancelot's closet friends but was not in any of his classes, and therefore Merlin's, until the previous year.
"Yeah... Oh Crap! I forgot to get him a present!" Merlin exclaimed completely freaking out
"Just go into town in the morning then" Arthur said with a shrug as they walked in to the changing rooms, "that's what I'm doing" he added. He seemed to ponder this for a second before continuing. "Why don't we go together?" he asked, "You can help me decide what to buy him" Arthur stated with a grin.
"Erm, yeah, why not?" Merlin answered slightly unsure as they stopped where Arthur got changed.
"Great" Arthur replied.
"We should probably swap numbers then" Merlin suggested bashfully.
"Sure" Arthur replied, pulling his shirt off over his head.
-
"A CACTUS?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna stick some googly eyes on it" Merlin stated proudly, wide eyes shining. Arthur couldn't help but laugh at Merlin's child-like behaviour.
They were in the middle of town and Merlin had just revealed what he planned to buy Lance for his birthday and Arthur, of course, thought it was ludicrous but completely like the Merlin he was getting to know.
"And where exactly do you expect to buy a cactus from?"
"From a garden centre" Merlin drawled as if Arthur was an idiot.
Arthur rolled his eyes, "Fine, come on then. We haven't got long until we have to be at Lance's"
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Lancelot's party had gone well and by the end of the week Merlin and Arthur were spending most of their time together and had become extremely good friends to the bewilderment of most people as they appeared to have absolutely nothing in common. They of course saw it differently; they had lots of things in common: music taste, TV shows (especially Doctor Who) and they were in practically every lesson together which at least made ICT more interesting.
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"That film was epic!" Merlin exclaimed, "I can't believe anyone actually found it scary"
"I know, it was hilarious. Since when did deer eat humans anyway" Arthur asked incredulously.
"Yeah and 'this isn't your house is it?' Really? I never would have worked that out what with all the plastic sheets and cobwebs and no lights, he wasn't the brightest person in the world was he? "
"Kinda like you then" Arthur laughed as Merlin attempted to glare at him while resisting the urge to smile.
"Prat".
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"You're always doing this!" Mrs Norman screeched as she chased them from her office and down the senior staff corridor. They didn't stop running until they were out of the building and half way across the yard, collapsing from laughter. They were both thinking the same thing – the Norman was crazy. The boys continued laughing all the way to their after school biology lesson but Miss had a point; they were always late. This was probably the reason why their teacher made no comment as they practically fell through the door throwing her a quick 'sorry we're late Miss' and attempting to flash her their best winning smiles before bursting in to laughter again as they took their seats.
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"Don't you think he looks like Doctor Who?" Arthur motioned to Mr Pete, one of the new history teachers.
"I think it's more his mannerisms than looks but yeah"
Arthur rolled his eyes, Merlin always had to be so finicky over things like this, always had to clarify everything. Not that Arthur could ever be annoyed by this for long, he wasn't even sure he was annoyed by it at all but merely slightly exasperated by the constant corrections.
"Maybe it's the coat? It's just like David Tennant's" Arthur observed
"Yeah, and the way he's stood. I wonder where he's hiding the TARDIS. We could steal and travel through time and space" Merlin smiled.
"Haha he'd get a bit of a shock when he went back for it" Arthur laughed before pausing, "Isn't Mrs Rickards' ringtone the Doctor Who theme tune?"
-
"I know why he's here..."
"Huh?"
"The Doctor, I know why he's here."
"... Well tell me then" Merlin stated slightly exasperatedly
"He's clearly lost or broken or killed his TARDIS and is here to steal Sir's!" Arthur concluded quickly, in a near conspirators whisper.
"Oh My God! Totally!" Merlin agreed laughing as he remembered how his maths teacher Mr Phillips had told him and Arthur that he planned to grow a TARDIS (yes, grow as TARDIS' are living things and are not built as they had been corrected) and all he had to do was create another dimension, something he stated as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Merlin and Arthur helpfully volunteered to do the 'difficult' part and build the blue box for him.
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"You've never been a member of the library?" Merlin exclaimed, completely shocked.
"No" Arthur replied, "Why is that such a big shock to you?"
"Because everyone is a member of the library, how can you not be?" Merlin questioned disbelievingly.
"I'm just not but I'll join if it makes you happy, Merlin" Arthur smiled mockingly.
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"Enid Blyton's books are strange; the things they say are so suggestive, I can't believe they're for little kids! Did they really speak like that?" Arthur asked laughing
"I don't know, but you find everything suggestive" Merlin replied
"I do not!" Arthur denied, pretending to be shocked by the suggestion, "and anyway you can't deny that they say some pretty questionable things"
"Yeah but I bet you'll keep reading them, they're just at your reading level" Merlin mocked, dodging as Arthur made to slap his head.
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"I do not think that Nazis wore skirts!" Arthur protested futilely knowing that Merlin would just ignore him.
"Then why did you say it Arthur?" Merlin teased
"I didn't! You, being the idiot that you are, just didn't understand what I meant"
The boys had just gotten out of a history revision lesson with 'The Doctor' where Merlin had failed to comprehend what Arthur had meant when they were discussing the impact of the Nazis on the lives of women.
"When I asked if everyone wore skirts in those times I did not mean all people in Germany! I meant all women in the world!" Merlin of course had misunderstood as usual (so Arthur believed) and had then gone and told The Doctor this who just kept laughing and regarding Arthur as though he was insane.
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"Not treating her like a human being! Who the hell does she think she is?" Arthur vented as soon as they stormed out of the classroom, Merlin fuming beside him, "I mean what exactly did we do? Just because one or two people behave like morons it doesn't mean she can shout at the entire class! It wasn't our fault that the damn video didn't work, how were we supposed to fill the sheets in without it or a text book!"
"Or with her constantly stopping us to tell us to do the work which we were doing until she interrupted us to tell us to do it!" Merlin raged, "For THREE hours! And telling us that we weren't sat where we were supposed to be, Mrs Rickards doesn't even have a seating plan so how could we be sat in the wrong places!"
"I could have actually killed her by the end of that lesson, she has no right speaking to us like that, I mean just because we're teenagers is doesn't mean we're completely stupid" Leon growled, "And what the hell was that about showing her respect? What about showing us some bloody respect!"
"Hmph, maybe someone should remind her that 'respect is a two way street' as they're so keen to constantly remind us" Arthur laughed humourlessly.
"Mrs Rickards will be so pleased when she hears about this" Merlin muttered sarcastically, "We'll probably get a lecture off her but I have to admit she is pretty fair about things and hopefully she'll listen to our side first, but maybe not as we have 'form' for this kind of behaviour."
They all knew what Merlin was referring to; the last time she had not been in the class was left teacher-less for an hour and they 'destroyed' the classroom merely by putting the chairs the other side of the desks, which the next teacher in the room had claimed had taken her 20 minutes to correct. The boys couldn't help but think that she could have simply applied logic to the situation and just had her class go to their places, pick up their chairs and move them to the correct side. It wasn't that difficult.
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Arthur wasn't sure that he wanted to actually do anything for his birthday but he knew that it was expected of him. His father had said he could do anything he wanted but he couldn't really think of anything. In the end he took Merlin's suggestion and invited people round to his house to watch a film.
Arthur waited impatiently for his guests to arrive on the Saturday, Merlin in particular. He had finally decided to admit his feelings for Merlin and was determined to tell him.
Merlin walked up Arthur's drive nervously. Tonight was either going to go amazingly well or incredibly wrong. He had to tell Arthur how he felt about him. The last year had changed Merlin's view on pretty much everything and he knew he had never felt like this before; not about anyone.
He rang the bell, shifting the present between hands anxiously as he waited.
Arthur answered the door, grinning as he saw it was Merlin. "Hey" he greeted him.
"Hi" Merlin replied as he walked in to his house, following Arthur towards the kitchen. "What time is everyone else getting here?" He asked.
"Erm, about a quarter of an hour" Arthur replied checking his watch, "you're early, but still at least that makes a change from you constantly being late" Arthur teased
"Oh haha, you're so funny" Merlin replied, his voice laced with sarcasm. He cleared his throat, "There's actually a reason why I came early" he started nervously, "I have something to tell you"
"Yeah, what's that?" Arthur asked distractedly as he searched the cupboards for the misplaced bottle of cola.
"I, erm, I... that is..."
"Spit it out Merlin, what is it that you want to say" Arthur ordered impatiently ceasing his search before changing to a more teasing tone, "I think I know what it is Merlin" he continued trying to keep his voice serious
"You do?" Merlin swallowed nervously
"Yes" Arthur continued moving closer to Merlin, "Could it be 'Happy Birthday' since you haven't said that yet you idiot" Arthur teased.
"Oh I'm so sorry." Merlin commented sarcastically before realising just how close he and Arthur were stood and how he seemed incapable of admitting his feelings. 'Well perhaps there was an easier but undoubtedly more dangerous way to show my feelings' he thought to himself. 'Can I do it? Arthur might kill me for it' he considered. Arthur was looking at him strangely, in a way he couldn't decipher. 'Could it be? Did he feel the same way? Oh just do it you wimp' he thought before taking action.
"Happy Birthday, you prat" Merlin said, grabbing Arthur by the collar of his t-shirt and pulling him in for a kiss.
A/N: Aww what a sweet ending LOL. I'm not sure it really fits but I love Merlin and Arthur so I couldn't help it =D
Like I said it's random but hey so am I. And yes there is a teacher in my, now old, school who is Doctor Who and another who is planning to build a TARDIS. My teachers were crazy – especially The Norman XD
P.S. In case you're interested the film mentioned is 'Jennifer's Body' and it is hilarious.
Anywayz I hoped you liked it! x